2of 5Roadrunner McKenzie Adams flips the ball away from Jazzmin Babers UTSA plays Texas A&M at Gregory Gym in Austin in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament on December 5, 2013.Photo: For the San Antonio Express-News

3of 5The Roadrunners' McKenzie Adams gets a shot off past the defense of Jazzmin Babers (22) and Sierra Patrick as UTSA plays Texas A&M at Gregory Gym in Austin in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament on December 5, 2013.Photo: For the San Antonio Express-News

4of 5Roadrunner Lauren Muenchow blasts past Jazzmin Babers as UTSA plays Texas A&M at Gregory Gym in Austin in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament on December 5, 2013.Photo: For the San Antonio Express-News

5of 5Khat Bell takes a shot for the Horns as Texas plays Texas State at Gregory Gym in Austin in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament on December 5, 2013.Photo: For the San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN — Considering he's about to make his fifth trip to the Final Four in the last six years, Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott is tempted to believe he knows what he's doing.

His players, though, say he's still a lost cause.

Elliott mentioned this week his best strategy for making sure his team stays relaxed is “to dance a little more and play music.” But apparently, just because he dances often doesn't mean he dances well.

Even so, his players say they'll tolerate Elliott's ugly choreography as long as they're winning. And for the last three months, they've done nothing else.

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NCAA volleyball Final Four

When: Today, Saturday

Where: KeyArena, Seattle

TV: ESPN2

Today's semifinals:

No. 1 Texas (27-2) vs. No. 12 Wisconsin (27-9), 6:30 p.m.

No. 2 Penn St. (32-2) vs. No. 3 Washington (30-2), 8:30 p.m.

Saturday's final: 8:30 p.m.

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The Longhorns, who won the national title last year and entered this year's NCAA tournament as the country's top-ranked team, have won 23 consecutive matches heading into Thursday's semifinal against No. 12 Wisconsin in Seattle. They've swept 12 of those matches and haven't even been pushed to a fifth set since Sept. 22.

They head into the Final Four as overwhelming favorites, and they know it.

“We're that target to hit,” junior All-American Haley Eckerman said.

For UT, it's quite a different kind of pressure than Elliott and the players faced in previous Final Four appearances. For years, the Longhorns were the team that kept coming close but could never get over the hump.

In 2009, they were two points away from a national title before falling in five sets to Penn State. They lost at the Final Four again in 2010, and in 2011 lost a heartbreaking five-set match in the regional finals.

By securing a championship last year, the Longhorns finally stopped the questions about when they'd finally win one. But that doesn't mean playing on their sport's biggest stage is now old hat, either.

“It's not something we take for granted,” Elliott said. “I wasn't sure we were going back. Everybody wants to think that, but it's not the way we look at it.”

When UT swept Nebraska last week to clinch another trip to the Final Four, the players made sure to enjoy it.

“It's a very big deal,” senior All-American Bailey Webster said. “I think I'm more excited this time, because we know what's coming.”

What's coming is a huge crowd at KeyArena, a national TV audience and more pressure than the players have been subjected to all season. But Webster, the most experienced player on the roster, said she's learned a surefire way to handle it.

“I just focus on what's right in front of me,” Webster said. “There's so much extra stuff at these matches that it's more important to just focus on what you're there for.”

And if it ends in more dancing, the Longhorns would be fine with that, too.

Mike Finger has worked for the Express-News since 1999, writing about the Texas Longhorns, the Big 12, the NBA and the NFL before becoming a sports columnist. He's covered 13 Spurs postseasons, six Final Fours and more than a dozen college bowl games.